MOSCOW, October 4 - RAPSI. Zinaida Sadovnikova, mother of former Moscow North District Prefect Yuri Khardikov, has once again become a suspect in the case of the theft of one billion rubles ($32.1 million) in stocks from Russia's richest woman, Elena Baturina, Kommersant daily reported on Thursday.

In April, the Krasnodar Territory Commercial Court dropped its proceedings in Baturinas lawsuit against Khardikov, his mother and Olymp-2014, to quash her purchase of a 90-percent stake in Olymp-2014, as the lawsuit was withdrawn by the plaintiff.

"Sadovnikova is now a suspect again and an investigation will be held into her affairs," Kommersant cited a source from the Main Investigative Department.

The department said that the suspect had previously been interrogated as part of the case, but as soon as investigators touched upon circumstances around the theft, she refused to testify, citing Article 51 of the Russian Constitution, according to which no one is obligated to testify against oneself or one's relatives.

The investigation into Khardikov, another suspect in the case, has been suspended due to the "impossibility to conduct any investigative actions in his regard," the department told Kommersant.

Khardikov was dismissed from office in late 2008. He was later prosecuted at Baturina's request. Investigators discovered that he had sold a land plot in Sochi to Baturina in 2007, even though he knew the land had been seized by a court order. Baturina allegedly sustained one billion rubles ($34 million) in damages as a result of the deal. Meanwhile, Khardikov said the land was reclaimed after Baturina had purchased it.

A court issued an arrest warrant for Khardikov in absentia and placed him on the international wanted list. In March 2011, Lithuania granted him political asylum.

In September, the Moscow Commercial Court ruled that the case should be transferred to the Krasnodar Territorial Commercial Court's jurisdiction, thereby granting the plaintiff's appeal, as Olymp-2014 was registered in Sochi.